Fairview Estates was one of "those" neighborhoods — the kind where the developer cuts down every tree in the neighborhood during construction and goes bankrupt before the street trees are ever planted.

Keep Covington/Newton Beautiful hears citizens’ concerns quite often, describing this same scenario. Thanks to a nationwide program called NeighborWoods, and a very generous grant from the Home Depot Foundation, on Oct. 2, KCNB was able to offer street trees to the residents of Fairview Estates. The trees were donated, and 50 volunteers showed up to plant them.

"This was a great project," said Lisa Oglesby, Chairman of the Business Committee of KCNB. "It is a win-win. The residents of Fairview Estates will now have shady streets, and Home Depot, a national sponsor of NeighborWoods, found a great way to celebrate their 30th anniversary."

Local Home Depot Manager Craig Espeseth, serves on the Business Committee of KCNB. When he found out about the $5,000 grant available through the Home Depot Foundation, he immediately thought of KCNB.

He said, "It’s a perfect fit. KCNB can gather volunteers to properly plant the trees that Home Depot can provide."

The project was a success, thanks to the efforts of many volunteers. Debbie Bell, Newton County Landscape Architect, planned and organized the placement of the street trees. Kevin Sorrow, City of Covington Arborist, gave a demonstration to the neighbors and volunteers on how properly to plant trees. Volunteers from Team Depot along with KCNB, Hands On Newton, Georgia Perimeter College, Snapping Shoals EMC and Bartlett Tree Service made sure that the ground was properly prepared and that the trees were properly planted and watered.

According to Connie Waller, Executive Director of Keep Covington/Newton Beautiful, "Many of the neighbors at Fairview Estates have thanked us for picking their neighborhood. Smiling faces and a few ‘thank-yous’ go a long way to make a community improvement project worth it. One little boy even told me that the new tree is ‘his’ and ‘he’ will take care of it, and I bet that he will."